


Welcome Home

by flinthasfeels



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Afterlife, Ash Lynx Loves Okumura Eiji, Comfort No Hurt, Fix-It, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Hugs, I think?, Kissing, M/M, Okumura Eiji Loves Ash Lynx, Reunions, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:27:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29776152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flinthasfeels/pseuds/flinthasfeels
Summary: After many years, Eiji comes home. Ash is more than willing to welcome him.
Relationships: Ash Lynx & Okumura Eiji, Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji
Kudos: 44





	Welcome Home

One last exasperated breath slipped out of Eiji’s lips, and with that slipped his life. The ache in his bones faltered, for he was old. The heaviness under his eyes eased. He felt feather-light, as if nothing was above or below him. He couldn’t help but to feel a strange sense of nostalgia overcome him as a white light beamed atop his eyelids. 

He was dead and with that, young again, he realized, and the afterlife was just ahead.

Only a mild sensation of panic diffused through his chest at the cognizance of it, but it was way more peaceful than he had expected. Warmth spread within him when the sensation of the ground was felt below, long strands of grass brushing past his arms and tickling his cheek.

Wind blew above him and faint voices sounded in the distance.

 _Voices_ ,  he thought, before jolting upward. He attempted to locate the location of those voices, only to fail rather miserably when his eyes were entrapped by the view. The sun rested just before the horizon, pouring golden light atop the field that seemed to go on for miles and miles until it was nothingness. The grass danced lightly and the clouds treaded continuously slow.

 _This is the afterlife, huh_ ,  Eiji quizzed to himself, sighing breathlessly at the view as he stumbled upwards.

He slowly rotated his position to capture more of this view, arms outstretched as he felt the warm air hug him. Every second was breathtakingly beautiful, he felt free— and he was. With one final shift to a complete rotation of the view, he spotted a figure in the distance, who seemingly spotted him too.

Eiji treaded through the field, leaving a trail of lightly dented grass behind him. With every step closer he could make out new details of this figure; forming features such as pale skin, green eyes and golden hair made his heart freeze, and so did he.

He took a few steps closer, though. He yelled out the name, that beloved name, ‘Ash,’ through the wind that made his and that blond’s hair sway. He kept repeating that name, picking up pace once again.

“Eiji!” Ash started running too, the wind practically carried him.

With each second their years worth of a gap faltered the closer they ran to each other, up until they finally clashed. Ash threw his arms around Eiji’s torso while allowing one hand to card his hair.

“Is this real? Am I dreaming?” Eiji croaked through newly formed tears, tightening his grasp on Ash. Being dead felt believable up until he realized that he was hugging the one he missed dearly for years— the touch felt real, much needed, and missed.

Ash shook his head as he pulled back for just a second— to take in that this was  _Eiji_ ,  the man he had watch progress live for ages, was finally in his arms again. He missed that damned smile, the teasing, the comfort.

“You made me wait around sixty goddamn years, huh? You’re an asshole for that.” He pulled him back into a hug, resting his chin on Eiji’s shoulder when tightening his grasp.

Eiji chuckled into his shoulder, his breath hitching. “I’m sorry— I should’ve waited seventy just to spite you.”

“Too late to do that now.”

Their shadows intertwined and the comforting silence that now filled their little space was ample. They both had fallen into each other’s hugs, and breaking apart felt impossible— it was  _ laughable  _ to even think of letting go , because why would you ever break apart now when you had all the time in the world?

But even with infinite time, Eiji was rather quick to break the silence. “I missed you...” He paused. “A lot.”

“I missed you too. It hurt me to see you sad,” Ash spoke into Eiji’s shirt. “But I’m happy that you were also able to smile.” He laughed lightly and quietly at the sight of Eiji’s grin before sighing. “I’m sorry, Eiji.”

“Why are you sorry?”

Ash let his eyelids fall shut, head still rested on Eiji’s shoulder. “I died thinking that it would be better that way— that my death would save you. Seeing your reaction when Sing told you about my death made me think, maybe I was wrong.”

“It’s true I was devastated, but please don’t ever blame yourself, okay?” He rubbed the other’s back in a repetitive motion.

Ash didn’t quite know what to say to that, so he only hummed in response. “I’m glad I can hug you now.”

Eiji smiled at those words, pulling back to glance at Ash’s face. Sharing this moment, he wondered how he went decade after decade without his touch— this warmth. All Eiji knows now is that from this moment on, he’d treasure every moment with Ash and everyone who had followed.

“And _I’m_ glad I can see your face now,” Eiji replied, tucking a strand of gold behind Ash’s ear.

Ash leaned into the small gesture, exhaling contently through his nose. Upon him fluttering his eyes shut again, Eiji noted that he would never get over seeing Ash’s face this softened, because he would never have to face gang violence again upon residing in the afterlife. Never would he have to face those who opposed him, again. And when Ash opened his eyes once more, Eiji noticed that no longer was there tension in those eyes, he could only see care and peace behind those pools of green.

Their eyes locked, and Ash felt a wave of  _ something  _ overwhelm him— it was as if it was indescribable. He returned an earlier gesture by tucking a strand of Eiji’s hair behind his ear, leaning in closer as he did so. Eiji had leaned closer too, a hand that was once touching Ash’s hair now curved around his cheek. The two shared a kiss at last. The ends of Ash’s lips curled into a smile against Eiji’s, he had never felt a kiss softer than this.

Upon parting, Eiji smiled all giddy and Ash knew it was contagious because he was smiling too. “I’m glad I finally did that,” Ash chuckled. “We’ve been holding each other for so long— I should show you to the other’s soon.”

“I definitely miss them,” Eiji replied, turning his head to look off into the distance where he assumed they were.

“Let’s go then, I know Skipper is gonna freak out when he sees you.”

He parted from their hold to grabbed Eiji’s hand, luring him in the direction where everyone else awaited him. 

“Welcome home, Eiji.”


End file.
